All Mac OS X versions of Expert Sleepers plug-ins have today been updated. This is primarily a maintenance update to allow an update to the Licence Manager, but there are new additions too.

The Licence Manager is updated to v1.1.0, with changes for compatibility with recent OS X releases. With this Licence Manager, please use the versions of the plug-ins listed below (or later). If you update any of your plug-ins to these new versions, please be sure to update all of them, and the Licence Manager. If you subsequently have activation issues, please work through the suggestions on the Licence Manager page before contacting us.

Silent Way is updated to v2.4.3. Changes in this version:• Added support for MIDI output of Song Position Pointer.• Added support for MIDI output of sysex data to the AAX version.• Fixed a possible crash when using the OSC browse dialog in 64 bit hosts.• Added ‘Match Note Offs’ feature to Silent Way ES-4 Controller and Silent Way ES-5 Controller.

Minky Starshine is updated to v1.1.0 and Warbler is updated to v1.2.0. These are the first 64 bit releases of these two plug-ins (happily bringing the full Expert Sleepers line to 64 bit; adding AAX compatibility for everything is next on the list).

Crossfade Loop Synth v3.2.3 (Audio Unit version) is released. This version adds a preferences option to ignore AudioUnit Reset messages, sent by some DAWs (notably Logic and Live) on transport start/stop, which means that the effect version’s recording buffer doesn’t get wiped when stopping/starting the transport.

XFadeLooperCM, the free version of Crossfade Loop Synth exclusive to Computer Music Magazine, is the subject of a multi-page feature in issue 191. The tips and tutorials apply equally well to the full version of Crossfade Loop Synth, so do check it out if you own that plug-in.

The feature also includes a (heavily edited!) interview with your truly. For the record, here’s the full text that I submitted:

- what inspired Crossfade Loop Synth?

Back in 2002, I was transitioning my mostly hardware studio setup to a more software-based one (something I've since mostly reversed - but that's another story). Time-stretching & granular resynthesis was all the rage at the time - things the new-fangled software instruments could do which traditional hardware generally couldn't. As a result, finding a sampler instrument that actually did work like an old hardware unit seemed surprisingly hard.

At the same time, Apple had not long released Mac OS X, and with it Project Builder (which later became Xcode). Previously, software development on Macs involved buying a development environment; now it was available for free. So there was no longer a reason not to dabble.

So, to satisfy my own musical needs, and enabled by the new software ecosystem of OS X, I decided to have a crack at writing a plug-in.

Despite being a reasonably experienced developer at the time, I'd never before worked on a Mac, so that was all new. Also, for reasons that aren't completely clear in retrospect, I decided to do it as an Audio Unit (buying the whole Apple shebang hook line & sinker, I guess), and the AU SDK was very immature at the time. Fortunately some AU pioneers had put their work up online so I was able to learn from example.

Crossfade Loop Synth v2 (2004) was the second (I think?) plug-in of mine to use my new graphical UI framework, originally created for my additive synthesis instrument Minky Starshine. There was still lots of learning going on at that time.

Crossfade Loop Synth v3 (2007) was the real challenge. Applying analogue VCO concepts like pulse width modulation and hard sync to sampled material was great fun, if your idea of fun involves lots of hard work and head-scratching. And the effect version - being able to record into the sample buffer while playing notes (at any speed, in either/both directions) - was the real head-f***.

- what do you think of other software samplers?

The only one I've ever used much is VSamp (http://www.vsamp.com). That's what I use if I want a traditional multi-sample of something vaguely realistic - it comes with a nice free library of orchestral staples. I mean, it's a tiny tiny thing compared to modern multi-GB romplers, but it works well for what I do. Otherwise, I just use Crossfade Loop Synth. Or a Live drum rack I guess would be the only other time I use a sample instrument.

It strikes me that there's very little emphasis on actual sampling in modern instruments. Just on playing samples back.

- do you have a favourite hardware sampler?

Roland S-330. A fantastic bit of kit - I used one for years back in the 90s. Its 'alternating' loop mode was the inspiration for the feature of the same name in Crossfade Loop Synth v2, and really the reason I wanted to create a sampler instrument in the first place. I used that all the time. It really was a unique thing at the time - a 1U rack box but you could plug in a mouse and a monitor, and see your stuff up on a screen. No editing through a tiny LCD window on the box itself. Really revolutionary.

- do you have any tips for readers using the instrument?

Buy the full version! :)

Do try the 'alternating' loop mode, especially on pads.

If you have a volume dip at the loop point, try the different Crossfade Types (Equal Gain/Equal Power).

Go nuts with Hard Sync.

Overall - the sample is just fodder for the instrument to create sound from. Don't just play it back, pure and simple. See what else you can make with it!

This release fixes a bug in the plug-in’s response to a MIDI All Notes Off message. In Plogue Bidule, this could cause a problem with the drones not reactivating when a plug-in was switched in and out of Bypass mode.

v3.0.1 fixes two bugs in v3.0.0 - the first related to use of very small host buffer sizes, and the second causing a failure in MOTU's AU Examiner (resulting in the plugin being unusable in Digital Performer).

Welcome!

"Instruments that sound good inspire better music, and it's a struggle to make music with bad-sounding instruments, irrespective of how talented you might be. Software instruments are no different: although they are usually discussed and sold in terms of their 'features' what really makes you return to an instrument repeatedly is the much more elusive factor of inspirational sound quality.

"I don't know enough about programming to understand why some software tools fascinate you while others make you want to get another job, but I do know that when I use anything by ES I get excited by what I'm hearing. These tools have the sonic richness of great analogue instruments - with the features of innovative digital ones."